Forrester Finds SMBs Adopting Virtualization Technology

A Forrester Research report on emerging SMB hardware trends in 2008 and 2009 finds server virtualization is being implemented in a majority of midmarket companies. Another report uncovers a similar trend toward virtualization among enterprises.

A Forrester Research report titled "The State Of Emerging SMB Hardware
Trends: 2008 to 2009" found server virtualization is being implemented in
a majority of midmarket companies, while a similar, concurrently published
report focused on enterprises uncovered a similar trend.
The survey results, based on interviews with 2,600 technology decision
makers in the United States and Europe, covered topics such as x86 server
virtualization adoption, cloud computing and alternatives to traditional PC
technologies. The report found 53 percent of small and midsize businesses
surveyed have already implemented x86 server virtualization or are doing so
within the next 12 months, while 74 percent of SMB respondents said they hope
to lower PC costs with alternative technologies such as various forms of
desktop or client virtualization.

"These survey results demonstrate that firms large and small are in the
midst of rethinking and overhauling IT infrastructure and client systems, with
new approaches for greater flexibility, efficiency and performance," said
Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Frank Gillett.

SMBs have virtualized about 36 percent of their operating system instances,
the survey discovered, a percentage that is expected to climb: SMB respondents
said they expect to virtualize 61 percent of all operating system instances
within two years. Midmarket companies also showed growing interest in
pay-per-use-hosting of virtual servers, one of many types of cloud services in
the market. Two percent of SMBs surveyed have already implemented
pay-per-use-hosting of virtual servers, and 2 percent more SMBs plan to do so
within the next 12 months.

Despite the low percentage of SMBs currently implementing virtual services,
34 percent of SMBs are interested in cloud computing, the report found.
However, 20 percent of respondents hadn't set aside budget resources to invest
in cloud computing. That number is unlikely to decline, considering the state of
the economy and an increased focus on security IT spending that is estimated to
last for the duration of 2009.
A recent report from research company IDC
suggests small business owners will likely spend IT budgets on more
bread-and-butter issues such as security and storage rather than on emerging
technologies. However, IDC said a heavy
marketing push by vendors should heighten interest in virtualization among SMBs
in the next 12 to 24 months.

Interestingly, when it comes to education and influences on purchasing
decisions, enterprise and midmarket companies both said despite the hype about
Web 2.0, IT buyers really just want to know what their closest associates
think. Hardware decision makers at enterprises and SMBs reported that their
peers and colleagues are the most valued traditional source of information for
purchase decisions.

Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.